Virgin and Child:
No gesso shows at the point at which the Virgin's right
pinkie has broken off, suggesting that the hands are of
solid carved wood. The polychrome of the skirt has
deteriorated badly, revealing the cloth beneath in
mosaic-like patches. There is no provision for showing the
feet.
The statue is crude but pleasant in its effect. The
bell-shaped lower body is of gessoed cloth stretched
over a 6-sided frame of light wood or split cane. The
only other example of such a shape that we have seen is
the frame statue
of the Candelaria in Santa Ana del Valle. The
gesso has been painted in a feathery pattern of flowers
and leaves on a pink background. The separate torso
seems to be frame and cloth and rises from a narrow
waist to hold up a carved and gessoed head. Because of
the carved hands, it is assumed that the arms have been
made separately and joined to the light-weight torso.
The whole is dramatically framed in a great swath of
polychromed cloth that serves as a mantle to shelter the
mother and child. The form is reminiscent of paintings
of the Madonna in which winds blow out her veil. The
mantle is in better condition than the dress and is
painted in a bold pattern of red and dark blue flowers
on gold.
The child, also of gessoed wood, is dressed in white
robe and white velvet cape.
Site: Church of Santo
Domingo Díaz Ordaz.
Location: Southeast
corner of the nave (see note).
Media and construction: Polychrome
garments over frame. Face and hands: painted wood. Eyes:
painted.
Size: About 2 feet (60 cm.)
Comparable santos in Oaxaca: Coixtlahuaca, Coixtlahuaca2,
Cuilapan,
Guelavia,
Huitzo,
Díaz Ordaz1, Zimatlán.
External Links:
Wikimedia Commons:
Statues
of
Virgin Mary in Mexico
Christian Iconography: The Madonna and Child
Next: Also
along the south wall, just in from the narthex, is a statue of Our Lady of
Sorrows.
Previous santo
Introduction to Santo Domingo
Díaz Ordaz
Santos Home Page
Note: On
this
site,
references to the cardinal directions always assume
that the main altar is at the east end of the church,
the narthex or entry area at the west end, and the two
walls
of the nave on the
north and south. (The
nave is the long central section.)
Actual orientations may differ.
The photo shown here is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
license. You are free to share or remix it on two
conditions: first, that you attribute it to the
photographers, Claire and Richard Stracke, without
implying any approval of your work on their part;
second, that if you alter, transform, or build upon
this photo, you may distribute the resulting work only
under the same or similar license to this one.
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